NYC man returns found diamond to Vermont couple
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Belmont's Linda Miller received her diamond ring, money and other valuables back Thursday, after a hiker found them on the side of a Rutland road more than two weeks ago. |
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BY Cristina Kumka Staff Writer - Published: July 11, 2009
Diamonds are forever.
When 24-year-old Zeke Faux from New York City stumbled upon a wallet with a diamond ring tucked inside lying on the side of Route 7 in Rutland, that's just what he thought.
The budding financial reporter, who at the time was heading toward an Appalachian trailhead, said he didn't think twice about returning his discovery but he also pictured something a lot more unpleasant — that the woman who lost it may not be alive.
"The wallet was brown leather and really scuffed up," Faux said from his Union Square residence.
"I thought she had been in a car accident."
Faux said he was just walking toward his destination June 23 when he noticed the wallet over the guardrails.
He opened it and found the ring, earrings, a bracelet, credit cards and $74 in cash inside.
The only thing missing was a driver's license — he didn't know to whom the valuables belonged and he didn't plan on heading miles back to Rutland to try to find out.
So with the pack on his back and his heart heavy, Faux said he continued on his one-week journey toward the Green Mountains, hiking 15 miles from Rutland toward the Route 140 start of the trail.
It was his first trip hiking in the Green Mountain State and he didn't expect to be walking along the bustling highway where he found the ring — what turned out to be a fateful detour.
"I had a whole week in the woods to think about what could have happened," Faux said.
When he got back to New York a week later, he started his hunt for the wallet's owner.
Faux tried for nine days to reach Linda Miller of Belmont, who meanwhile was trying to stay calm as she and her husband canceled all the credit cards and at the same time, get ready for their planned New Hampshire vacation.
While credit cards companies were denying Faux's requests for the woman's phone number, Miller was thinking what could have gone wrong.
Did she leave her wallet and anniversary ring in a shopping cart at Hannaford or on the top of her car? What if someone stole her identity?
"My worst fear was that it was lost from everyone," Miller said. "That no one would find it."
Miller said she tucked the ring in the wallet for safe keeping when she got her wedding ring back from the jewelers and decided to wear it instead.
Faux's tireless efforts to reach the mystery woman paid off one day last week when he picked up the phone and dialed the number for Videostop in Ludlow.
It was one of his last shots. There weren't many cards left.
A video store employee contacted Miller at home and told her someone who said he had her wallet was looking for her.
Miller's husband John and Faux were on the phone 15 minutes later.
"He was cautiously optimistic," Faux said.
John Miller described the ring and contents of the wallet precisely and on Thursday, the special delivery landed at the Miller's door.
Faux would not accept a monetary reward from the family for mailing back the wallet and ring but he did say he couldn't deny the good karmic energy.
"I think it's once in a lifetime that you come across a diamond ring on the highway," he said. "I'm just happy that I was able to find her and she wasn't in a car accident."
For Miller, staying positive about the whole experience meant positive things may happen and someone may have been good enough to return her lost goods.
The General Electric designer and active community volunteer said, "If you're bad it comes around and if you're good it comes around."
Faux said he just listened to his mother's advice — return it and don't think twice.
"The ring didn't fit me anyway," Faux said, chuckling.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com
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